Save Me
by SilveryLining1
Summary: Annabeth lived in San Francisco until her abusive father moved their whole family to New York. She finally has a chance to start over from all the bulies and perverts from her old school. She is still somewhat scared to start at a new school until she meets a gorgeous sea-green eyed boy who befriends her. Will he be able to save her? (Percabeth) (Thalia x Nico)
1. New School

**Annabeth's POV**

" Get your but down here you worthless excuse for a daughter!" my dad yelled up the stairs.

"Coming!" I yell back from my room which, by the way, is literally a small walk-in closet.

Let me explain my family situation. My mom died when I was seven and my dad remarried two years later to a much younger woman. She was nice for a while and then she showed her true colors after she gave birth to my two step-brothers, Bobby and Mathew, who are now pervs. They are always trying to touch me places brothers shouldn't touch, if you know what I mean, and my parents just laugh like it's funny. My dad drinks every day and how drunk gets affects how hard I get beaten. They, my "parents", decided a few weeks ago that we were going to move not caring what I would be leaving behind. Now we have moved across the county from San Francisco to New York and I have to start all over during my sophomore year of high school. I'll be going to a preppy school, Goode High. Thanks parents who don't-care-about-me-at all-and-wouldn't-care-if-died-in-a-pit-of mud-because-they-are-evil.

To make my life worse, I was harassed by some guys last year to the point where I was pulled into an empty classroom and a few of the boys were going to do some "things" to me. Fortunately, a teacher came in before it could escalate past one of them forcing me to kiss him. I tried to tell my parents about it but my dad didn't care. All I got was a broken rib and a bruise on my face because I was home late.

I run downstairs in my gray t-shirt and ripped jeans slipping on my other converse shoe onto my left foot. When I reach the foot of the stairs, I see my dad standing there. The moment I open my mouth to say something, he slaps me in the face and punches me in the stomach. I double over in pain and fall down. I get onto my hands and knees and start to get up when my dad kicks me in the ribs. I fall back down on my side, curling up into the fetal position as he keeps kicking me.

"You are worthless you hear me worthless! Hurry up and get to school before I kick your -*-" he yells.

I scramble up and grab my backpack and books and run out the door, breakfast forgotten.

"Bye Anniebeth!" my 13 year old brother says and then slaps my butt. I try to punch him in the shoulder but he runs away yelling "worthless" at me.

By now I should be crying, but I learned a while ago not to let my pain and anger show. The more you recognize your feelings the more and harder you get hit is what I learned a long time ago. I run to the bus praying that the bruise I will definitely have on my face won't show up until I'm in the bathrooms and can cover it up with make-up. I rush into the bus and go towards one of the empty seats.

People eye me with distaste and try to get as far away with me as possible. They already know I'm a nerd. I'm carrying three books in my arms one of them about architecture. I immediately spot a few guys who are checking me out. I already know I've found a replacement for the pervs that were at my old school.

_Great way to start the day_, I think as I sit down.

The bus is just about to leave when I hear a voice yelling at the bus driver to wait. He lunges up the steps and thanks the bus driver. I look at the kid who just got on the bus.

This guy is gorgeous. He has these hypnotizing sea green eyes and messy jet black hair. He has a bronze sheen to his skin and is clearly muscular by the way that his shirt clings on him.

He looks around for an empty seat and I see a girl who must be one of the school sluts pat the seat next to her and wink at him. I hear giggles from all the other girls and roll my eyes at their immature behavior. I stop paying attention and look out the window as the bus starts to move when I hear a voice.

"Can I sit here?" it asks.

I look up and see the gorgeous guy looking down at me nervously. I nod and say, "Sure."


	2. New Girl

**Percy's POV**

The moment I walk onto the bus my vision tunnels. I can still feel the eyes of all the slutty girls staring at me and hear their giggles but I only have eyes for one. The blonde with the makings of a bruise on her face who is looking out the window with a dead expression.

I can feel the jealous stares of all the girls as I walk over to this goddess of a person. I notice the school slut Stacey motioning for me to sit by her but I ignore the gesture. I walk over to the seat the blonde is sitting in.

"Can I sit here?" I ask.

Her gaze jerks up to mine and she hesitates before saying,"Sure."

I slide into the seat and can her the whispering if all the jealous girls in the back of my mind. She turns her gaze back out the window much to my disappointment.

"My names Percy," I say.

"Annabeth," she replies.

"Pretty name," I say.

She looks up at me with a guarded expression," Thanks."

"Are you new this year?" I ask her.

"Yep," she replies still looking out the window.

"Where did you move from," I ask.

"San Francisco, and I'm never going back," she replies with a bitter tone.

"Why?" I ask curiously.

She turns around and looks at me with pain in her stormy gray eyes,"What's with all the questions?" She asks and before I can reply she asks another question," Why did you sit by me anyway? There were plenty other people you could have sat by. Why me?"

"Maybe it's because I felt like sitting next to someone new and try to make a new friend," I say calmly.

"I don't have any friends," she says," they always end up leaving me because they always find something better."

"You don't even have one?" I ask shocked.

" I had one, but she changed schools and I haven't seen her since. Who wants to hang out with a nerd anyways?"

"I would. By the way, what was her name?"

"Thalia Grace."

"No way! She's my cousin and she goes to Goode!"

"What!"

"Yeah! Maybe you guys can still be friends!"

"I don't know Percy," she says doubtfully," I'm don't think I'm ready to have another person who will dump me as soon as they find someone better."

"I wouldn't dump you," I say truthfully. "My best friends and I are called the freak group but we don't care. Hey you know what! Why don't you sit with us at lunch?"

"I don't know," she replies looking at her toes.

"Come on it will be fun!" I insist.

"She hesitates again before saying ok.

"Yes!" I say fist pumping the air.

She looks at me strangely before laughing. Her laugh is beautiful. It sounds like thousands of little bells twinkling.

"Okay." She says again.


	3. Luke

**Annabeth's POV**

I can't believe I agreed to almost be friends with a guy I just met. Percy and I ride the rest of the way to school in silence. As we get off the bus a girl behind me pushes me and fall on my knees.

"Watch your back!" She hisses as she and her 'friends' walk into the school building.

I stagger onto my feet and look for Percy. A few yards away I see him talking to a familiar black haired girl wearing a black "Death to Barbie" t-shirt, combat boots, and ripped skinny jeans. Percy motions for me to walk over to them not noticing my skinned knees.

I start to walk over to them when a jock steps in front of me and says," Hey cutie want to hang out with me and my friends?" His friends all have letterman jackets on for the football team and are all grinning at me creepily.

"No thank you," I snap and try to walk around him but he grabs my wrists and spins me around till we are almost nose to nose.

"I think you do," he replies with a malicious grin.

He leans in to try to kiss me when he gets punched in the face. I drop to the ground and as I get up I see who punched him. It's Thalia. I look over and see a glimpse of Percy's eyes. They are filled with anger towards the dude that Thalia punched.

"Back off Ethan!" She snarls. "You touch my friend again and you will find yourself in a hospital room!"

Ethan scrambles onto his feet and gives me another malicious grin before walking away.

I sigh thinking _Yay me another Luke_.

"Annabeth!" Thalia turns to face me, squeals and gives me a crushing hug. " I missed you!"

"I missed you too Thals," I reply excited. She actually remembers me!

"So I see you've already met Kelp Head," she says jerking her thumb at Percy who still looks like he wants to punch a wall.

"Yup," I reply," we met on the way here on the bus."

"How have you been?" she asks.

"Great!" I lie.

I can tell Thalia thinks there is something going on but when I look away and focus on Percy, she knows that she's not gonna get anything out of me.

"Hey, you okay," I ask him concerned.

He glaces at me and his gaze softens.

"Yeah," he replies. "How bout you?"

I am shocked that he would actually care but then I remember that Luke acted this way before he tried to rape me.

"Yeah," I rely with caution, my walls already going back up.

"Hey Annie. Have you got your schedule yet?" Thalia asks me.

"No," I reply," I don't know where I'm supposed to get it.

"Percy and I will take you to the office and help you get your schedule and locker number. Come to think of it I don't know what locker I have either," Thalia says thoughtfully.

"Ok," I tell her.

The three of us walk towards the office and I feel Percy glaring at any guy who starts checking me out. I wonder why he is acting so protective and then my mind flashes back to his expression when that guy, Ethan, tried to force me to kiss him. I start wondering if he actually cares for me. Then I think if my dad doesn't care about me, then why should I even expect Percy to.

When we reach the office, Percy holds open the door for me and Thalia to walk in. I walk up to the secretary who looks to be in her mid-thirties.

She looks up at us and smiles.

"How can I help you?" She asks.

"My names Annabeth. I'm the new student from California,"I say.

"I'm guessing you will be wanting your schedule and locker number," she says while opening up a drawer and going through some paperwork.

"That would be great," I say. "Also Thalia needs her locker number.

"Of course," she replies, pulling a file and putting it on her desk.

She gives me my schedule and Thalia and I find out we have lockers right next to Percy's.

"Score!" Thalia yells earning us more stares from the population of Goode High.

We get to our locker and put our extra books in them and then we pull out our schedules and see how many classes we have that are the same.

**Thalia Grace**

1st period: Pre Calculus- Mrs. Tryple

2nd period: P.E.- Coach Hedge

BREAK

3rd period: English 11- Mr. Blofis

4th period: Biology Honors- Mrs. Brumble

LUNCH

5th period: Greek- Mr. Brunner

6th period: US History- Mr. Fres

7th period: Music- Mr. Apollo

**Percy Jackson**

1st period: Biology Honors- Mrs. Brumble

2nd period: P.E.- Coach Hedge

BREAK

3rd period: US History- Mr. Fres

4th period: English 11- Mr. Blofis

LUNCH

5th period: Greek- Mr. Brunner

6th period: Pre-Calculus- Mrs. Tryple

7th period: Music- Mr. Apollo

"My schedule was pretty much the same as Percy's except I had AP Calculus when he had pre calc.

"This is awesome! We have almost the exact same schedules!" Percy tells me, excited.

I allow myself a laugh. The bell rings and Percy and I leave Thalia to walk to her 1st period class. As Percy and I are walking to our class I think I see a glimpse of a familiar head of blonde hair and I freeze in my tracks.

It can't be Luke.


	4. The New Guy

**Percy's POV**

As we are walking towards our 1st period class, I see Annabeth stiffen beside me and I see fear in her eyes. I look towards the direction her gaze is turned in and all I see are the last few students heading to their classrooms.

"You okay?" I ask.

"Yup fine! Let's just go to class," she replies her gaze snapping back to me.

I know something is wrong but I'll wait till she is ready to tell me. We enter the door and go up to the teachers desk. She looks up at us expectantly.

"May I help you?" she asks.

"This is the new transfer student, Annabeth Chase is it okay if I show her around for the rest of the day and sit by her during this class?" I ask her nervously.

"Of course," she replies warmly the turns to Annabeth, I hope you enjoy school at Goode."

"Thank you ma'am," Annabeth says with a small smile.

As we walk down one of the aisles I see one of the sluts, Stacey I think, stick out her manicured foot and trip Annabeth. I grab her waist before she fall over. However I feel her stiffen at the close contact.

I whisper in her ear," Let's just take our seats."

She jerks a nod and we head back to our seats and sit down with the rest of the class still laughing at Annabeth's misfortune as Mrs. Brumble tries to calm them down. I can see one tear run down Annabeth's face before her hair covers it. I rub her back, comforting her.

Once the class calms down. Mrs. Brumble starts to begin her lesson until there is yet another interruption. The door flies open and a blonde haired guy with icy blue eyes and a scar on the left side of his face rushes in. I see Annabeth stiffen beside me and fear fill her stormy- gray eyes. I see him glance about the room as if he is searching for someone in particular. The moment his eyes land on Annabeth, he stiffens, recognition flashing through his eyes, and a smile spreads across his face. It never reaches his eyes though which are filled with cruelty. I look over and Annabeth has hidden her face behind her princess curls. I reach out and squeeze her hand in a reassuring gesture and her head shoots up to look at me.

_It's gonna be okay_, I mouth

_Thank you_, she mouths back.

I give her a warm smile in response. When I turn my head back to what the teacher is saying, I see the new kid glaring at me and glancing between Annabeth and me. I smirk at his apparent frustration. I turn my attention to Mrs. Brumble as she goes over the basics of what will be required of us this year.

**Annabeth's POV**

As the teacher drones on and on about what we will be doing this year, the only thoughts running through my mind are: Crap! I'm dead, so very dead. He's back what am I gonna do? I know how to defend myself against him, but I don't want to be kicked out of school if I accidentally go overboard and Percy won't be there to help all the time if I get in trouble. D*** it! Did he seriously HAVE to move to this d*** school?!

Life is a b***. Everything I try to do to escape a situation that is hazardous to myself, it always ends up backfiring and getting myself hurt more if I had just let things be.

Percy gives my hand another comforting squeeze that snaps me back out of my thoughts into what the teacher is saying. I send him a grateful look and he smiles. I then turn back to face the teacher and pay rapt attention to the rest of her 'speech'. she goes on talking about how our grades will be weighted and the expectations she has for us.

As the time left remaining in class decreases to 10 minutes, the teacher ends her lecture.

"- I expect all of you to try your hardest and pass this course. The bell for you to start heading over to second period will ring in ten minutes. Feel free to use the rest of your class time to introduce yourself to your peers and talk freely amongst yourselves.

Hallelujah the lecture is over! I reach into my backpack to pull out a book out when I hear footsteps walking over to my desk and Percy's. I stiffen and I can hear Percy's chair squeak as he stands up. S*** it's my least favorite person. My head is still down as the person stops. The next thing I hear is a voice that will forever give me nightmares.

"Long time no see... ANNIE."


	5. Figure From The Past

**Authors Note:~~ Sorry for not updating sooner but I had a lot of crap going on with school and stuff so... ya. I noticed that in the past few chapters I've made Annabeth a little too wimpy so in this chapter she is going to be more like she would be in the books. On a side note, if there are any pieces of the story I should redo or fix, please let me know. Thanks guys!**

**Annabeth's POV**

_Why Fates? Why must you hate me so?_ I ask in my head.

Of all the freaking people that had to come up to me it HAD to be him. If you haven't noticed already, my life sucks.

I pretend ignore him as I start reading the book I have with me.

"What do you think your doing pretty boy?" I hear Luke say. "You know that girl is a whore right?"

Oh he did not just call me that! I swear if one more annoying word or phrase comes out of that little turds mouth I will kick him to kingdom come.  
It's amazing how fast fear can turn into anger and power, but when someone's messing with my friend and questioning my morality, its a different story.

"I bet your just a weak dumba** who doesn't know how to do anything—" he says before I slam my hands on my desk and look up at him with a glare.

Thalia used to say my glare could freeze an ocean. Apparently my eyes turn a dark, stormy gray and my pupils look like pure darkness.

Now, with my eyes filled with hate and disgust, I look into the face of the person I despise the most.

"Luke Castellan," I began, straightening my back to look him squarely in the eyes, " I am not gonna be the weak little girl I was last year. I have decided from now on if anyone messes with me I will show them just how I got my black belts in karate, judo, and aikido. Last year, the only thing keeping me from whooping your lousy a** was the fact that I was afraid to get kicked out of school. But that time is over. I am warning you right now, if you try to pull any of the crap you did last year, I will kick your scrawny a** to kingdom come."

Luke looks surprised for a second, then that cocky smirk reappears on his face. Meanwhile, Percy is looking at me with wide eyes, seemingly unprepared for my pissed and sassy side.

_Two points for Annabeth!_ I cheer silently while still keeping my glare on the person in front of me.

"Oh feisty now are we Annie?" Luke sneers while reaching out a hand to stroke my chin.

In a flash he is on the ground groaning in pain from the punch I just delivered to his stomach.

"I warned you," I hiss.

Percy walks by me, grabbing onto my wrist as he walks out of the classroom. The teacher nods at us as we exit the classroom with a satisfied look on her face. Looks like she won't be getting me into trouble. I actually think she is smiling a bit from the present I gave to the perverted bastard.

"Where are we going?" I hiss to Percy.

He loosens his grip then replies, "Somewhere for you to cool down."

I follow him quietly down the hallways, but my stomach is starting to hurt from the beating I got this morning from my "father". As we exit the school, he turns to head towards the flower garden. I can't help this fuzzy feeling from holding Percy's hand that is crowding out the anger in my mind.

We sit down on a metal bench and he lets go of my hand. I immediately miss the warmth of it as the cool air washes over my skin. The warmth immediately returns when he wraps his arms around my shoulders and pulls my head to rest on his chest. At this point, my face is bright red from blushing and my heart is beating as fast as a freight train.

Is this feeling that I'm feeling right now really-

**Percy's POV**

As I pull her head to lay on my chest, a slight blush appears across my cheeks. It's weird that I think I am already developing feelings for a person that I have just met. I guess we just kind of connected if you can understand what I mean. She definitely isn't like most girls I have met before. She doesn't seem like a slut or that she takes advantage of her looks. She is smart, strong, athetic and kind and I couldn't have predicted before that I word ever meet someone like her. I already know she is going to start making an impact on my life. In fact, she has already.

"Um, Percy?" I hear her mumble.

"Y-yeah?" I stutter nervously, hoping I didn't do anything wrong.

"How long are you going to hug me? I calmed down about five minutes ago," she says.

"Oops! Sorry!" I apologize frantically as I release her.

We sit there for a few seconds, blushing and glancing at each other. Finally, Annabeth clears her throat and stands up. I immediately follow her.

"Umm.. thanks for helping me calm down Percy," she says nervously, fiddling with the hem of her shirt with her fingers.

"Heh heh, no problem Annabeth," I reply scratching the back of my head, embarrassed.

"We should probably head back to class now," she says, pulling out her phone and looking at the time displayed.

"D***it you're right!" I curse. "1st period started about ten minutes ago!" I say as I pull out my own phone and check the time.

"Seriously?" Annabeth asks, alarmed. "S*** my parents are gonna kill me when I get home when they find out I was late to a class," I hear her mumble under her breath.

I grab her arm and pull her behind me harder and faster than I had before. I hear her gasp in pain so I stop and turn around, loosening the tight grip I had on her wrist, thinking that was the source of her discomfort. Instead, I see her clutching at her stomach, wincing.

"Hey! Are you OK?" I ask, extremely alarmed.

"Yup just fine!" she replies, just a little to fast and a little to happily for my liking, " Just had a little stomach pain is all!"

I eye her suspiciously as I resume pulling her behind me and heading to our next class. I just learned something about Annabeth: she is horrible at lying when injured. I will find out what was going on. Do whatever it takes to help the girl I have somehow fallen in love with, however cliche that might sound.


	6. Love?

**Annabeth's POV**

D*** that was close! I think as Percy is pulling me to our next class. I think he suspects something is up, but I don't think he would ever try to force me to tell him what is going on.

As soon as we reach the door to the gym, Percy lets go of my hand. I miss the warmth again almost immediately. He reaches out and opens the gym door and the sound of shoes squeaking against the lacquered wood of the basketball court fill my ears. Percy motions for me to go in first. As I walk in nervously, I hear him close the door behind me. My eyes immediately go to observing those in the gym with us and I calculate which ones I should approach carefully and ones I shouldn't bother talking to at all as I would risk my physical health doing so.

All the students are practicing shooting ad doing lay-ups, but I can't find anyone who looks like they would be the P.E. instructor.

"HEY YOU MAGGOTS! WHY ARE YOU LATE! YOU GET LOST HAVING A MAKE OUT SESSION OR WHAT PUNKS?" someone says.

I look towards the direction the voice came from and see a small chubby bald man with a beard walking towards us with a megaphone in his hand. Why I'm guessing he is the P.E. instructor, Coach Hedge. How anyone his size (he must be around 4'10'') was chosen as a P.E. teacher baffles me. Don't get me wrong, I had a "friend" once who was 4'7" and she was the nicest person I had been friends with, until she dumped spaghetti on my head in the middle of the cafeteria. Let me tell you, wet noodles sliding down your back = NOT. FUN.

Anyway, returning to the present. The short angry man waves a whistle around in the air, a binder stuffed with so many papers it looks like it might explode is occupying his left hand.

"Hey Coach!" Percy says, trying not to break into a laugh at the scowl that appears on Coach Hedge's face.

"Hello Jackson mind to tell me the reason you are late this fine morning and who this lady is that you have brought with you?" Hedge asks with his voice edged in sarcasm.

"My name is Annabeth Chase and I am in this class this period. I apologize for being late, it won't happen again," I say, holding out my right hand to give him a hand shake.

He seems surprised by my manners, but quickly follows his brief moment of silence before reaching out his hand to shake mine. Once he releases my hand, I immediately shove my hands into my pockets.

"You should take a lesson of respect from this young lady right here, Jackson," he says to Percy. He then turns in my direction," Alright Chase," he says clasping his right hand around the whistle again and looks down at a list in his hand, The unit we are in right now is basketball. Your locker for this class is 57 in the girls locker room. The lock on your locker is already unlocked so your combination can be set to whatever you desire and there is already a uniform waiting for you. Report out here after you are done changing. You already know the drill, Jackson."

"Sir, yes sir!" Percy says quietly with a smirk on his face once Coach Hedge is out of hearing range.

I snort, trying not to laugh as I head off towards the girls locker rooms. Once I get there and open the door, I am bombarded by the smell of AT LEAST 50 different types of perfume. How do people not SUFFOCATE while trying to change in here? All the different chemical mixes are making my nose and head hurt and my eyes water.

"Now to find my locker," I mumble to myself as I walk away and let the door behind me shut on its own.

I walk up to my locker, pull the lock off, and open it up to retrieve my gym clothes. Once I take out the uniform, shorts and white T-shirt with the schools name on it, I set it behind me on one of the many benches sprawled throughout the room. I reach down and unzip my backpack, pulling out a roll of medical wrapping gauze to wrap my cracked rib and to prevent any bruises that might have already formed from showing.

Once I've stuffed most of my stuff inside my locker, I walk over to the bathrooms. There is no way I'm going to risk the chance of someone stumbling in while I'm changing and seeing the bruises and scars I have accumulated. When I get over to the stalls, I go into one of the stalls that is the closest to the lockers.

After I lock the door behind me, I pull off my shirt and wince when I feel my ribs throb. Forget about one cracked rib, I might have broken two. I toss my shirt to lay over the top of the door in front of me then pull out the gauze. I lean up against the wall as I wrap the gauze around my body. Once it is secure, I pull on my gym shirt and check to make sure the bandage can't be seen. It is a little short to the point where lifting my arms above my head would reveal a small portion of the unwrapped section of my stomach. Other than that it isn't too bad.

I finish changing and put my converse back on. Gathering up the clothes I changed out of, I make my way back to my locker. Opening it up again, I throw my clothes inside. After I close it, I pick up the lock I had previously discarded and set it to the combination 18-08-00. Once my personal belongings are secure, I make my way to the locker room door.

Weaving around random articles of clothing and random backpacks I think, _Are these people blind or stupid to the point where they didn't even have the few seconds to spare that it would have taken them to stuff their belongings into their assigned locker?_

Then again, you can't fix stupid so I brace myself for the horrible world that is P.E.. It isn't like I'm completely horrible at it, I'm pretty good actually, but I'm slightly nervous about getting teased regardless if Percy is at my side or not.

I take a deep breath and open the door.


	7. PE Sucks

**Percy's POV**

As I walk into the locker room, I see three jocks huddling together with smirks on their faces. Great. Idiots who ditched class.

I walk over to my locker and put in my combination. As I pull out my gym uniform and put my stuff in my locker, something one of the guys says, Dylan, I think his name is, catches my attention.

"Hey Josh! You see that new chick yet?" he says to his buddy playing on his phone next to him.

Looking up from the game he was playing with a curious expression on his face, he asks," No. Why?"

"She's kinda hot man," the third, James I think, says. "What I would pay for those legs."

I clench my gym shorts in my fist and my back stiffens in anger. They don't know one single thing about Annabeth!

_Get your freaking minds out of the gutter people! I'm a teenage boy and I'm not trying to make advances towards her but trying to know about her and her life which is more than two of you will ever do!_

"Leave the poor girl alone guys. You two already have girlfriends and she might already be with someone if what you say about her looks are true," he says annoyed.

_I give you ten points!_ I cheer in my head. _Now I won't have to get in trouble and get kicked out of another school for the seventh time in my life._

I change my clothes then head out of the PE room leaving those disgusting idiots to think their idiotic thoughts.

As I walk out, I see Annabeth exit the girls' locker rooms and start walking towards Coach Hedge. I follow and get there just in time to hear the Coaches instruction about what lovely activity we will be doing today at the beautiful Goode high school. I hope you caught the sarcasm in that sentence because, if you didn't, there's no hope for you.

Anyway, he puts both of us on the same team in basketball and we head over to our group. Its mostly made up of the "nerds", goths, and non-athletic people.** (A/N: No offense intended. I am all of those things except goth. However, I was goth my last year of junior high so...)** Just our teams luck, the other team is made up of all the jocks and preppy kids, so I'm the only person on my team that I think even plays a sport.

A few of the guys are messing around and a few of them are checking Annabeth out as their girlfriends try to gain back their attention. I see many hateful glares thrown Annabeth's way, and my fists clench near my sides.

I walk over to where Annabeth is standing in the corner as we wait for the coach to actually start the game. (A/N: There is only about 30 teens in the class overall, so just imagine 15 people per team.)

"You OK Annabeth?" I ask when she looks up.

"Yeah. I have had to deal with it for years, so I'm used to all of this by now. Don't worry about it."

I look at her for a few seconds before sighing.

"Fine."

"Thanks Percy. You're the first one to seem like you actually care," she says looking at me with a small smile on her face.

I feel my face redden a little as I look away, embarrassed. I can just FEEL the smirk she is giving me right now.

"Um. Yeah. No problem," I get out trying to preserve every last shred of dignity I have left.

She snorts as the coach tells us to get in position before the game starts. Ethan is holding the basketball, ready for when the whistle blows, so I stand in front of him, determined to pay him back for this morning.

The whistle blows and the game starts.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Well that was a crappy chapter! I apologize for how cheesy it was. Also, sorry it was so short, I was in the airport and my flight was boarding so I had to end the chapter fairly quickly.


	8. PE Sucks: Part 2

**A/N:~A big thank you to all the people who were so patient with me for updating so late! Since it's my birthday today (Yay I'm no longer 14!) I'm gonna post a new chapter! It may not be as long as the other ones are, but I'll try not to leave it at a huge cliffhanger. Enjoy!**

**Annabeth's POV**

The game starts okay, the other team is winning obviously, but then I feel a tingle up my spine like something bad is going to happen. That thought is proven true a few moments later when I realize I've been cornered by some cheerleaders in the middle of the game.

" Stay away from my boyfriend you b**ch," one girl says.

"Who the heck is your boyfriend?" I ask with an eyebrow raised.

"Ethan duh. I saw how you couldn't keep your little hands off him," she replies with her arms crossed.

_What planet is this girl from? He was obviously sexually harassing me and WOULDN'T keep his hands of of me!_ I rant in my brain.

"I have no clue what you are talking about," I say staring her straight in the eye," but if you call your boyfriend sexually harassing me as me not being able to keep my hands off of him then you've got a screw loose somewhere in that almost non-existent brain of yours."

I leave them their with their mouths open, gaping like fish. I ALMOST laugh but I stop myself from being that immature. As I'm jogging to where Percy is, I suddenly feel something slam into my back. I catch a glimpse of bleach blonde hair before I hit my head hard against the shinny floor of the basketball court and everything turns black.

**Percy's POV**

I hear a loud _thunk! _and the game screeches to a grinding halt as I turn to see Annabeth pinned under a bleach blonde cheerleader, I think Drew is her name, and she isn't moving. Drew has a sort-of triumphant grin on her face for a millisecond before she switches to a fake look of innocence.

"Annabeth," I breath as I run over to where she got knocked down.

Coach Hedge walks over to is with a look that says _what the hell happened here?_.

"It's not my fault Coach," Drew says "sadly" wiping away a fake tear.

"I'll take her to the nurse," I state holding her bridal style in my arms as I stand up.

Without waiting for a reply, I exit the gym and walk towards the nurses office with a KO'd Annabeth in my arms. As I walk into the room and lay her down on the small cot, the nurse runs up to me.

"Oh dear! What happened to her?" she exclaims as she checks her pulse and does what nurses are supposed to do **(A/N:~ That probably sounds stupid but I can think of no other way to phrase that.).**

"P.E. And a jealous girlfriend who happened to be a cheerleader," I reply, sitting down in a chair with my head in my hands.

The nurse just nods in understanding as I drift off into thinking about what happened this morning with Annabeth's stomach. I'm jerked out of my thoughts when I hear the nurse emit a gasp of shock.

I walk quickly over to her to see a bandage wrapped around Annabeth's waist/stomach area. The nurse slowly unwraps it to reveal a collection of bruises decorating her skin, possibly evidence of a broken rib or two.

I hear the nurse curse under her breath as I study Annabeth's face wondering who or what on earth would have done this to her.

"Oh Annabeth," I whisper softly, caressing her face," What the hell happened to you?"

I don't know though, if I really want to find out.

**A/N:~ And that's the chapter folks! Hope you liked it! I hope I can update again before school starts in two and a half weeks *cries because I'm gonna be a sophmore* but I will try! Love you guys!^-^**


	9. Story Telling

**A/N:~ The next chapter of the story is here! I've been is bush with school -_- *wipes away tears*. Also there have been a ton of fires by where I live so it's actually raining ash right now and I have asthma so... that's been kind of annoying too as well as having to go to appointments so I could get glasses. Anyway ON TO THE STORY!Enjoy!^-^**

**Annabeth's POV**

Waking up after having your head slam into the floor of your school gym is not pleasant; I can tell you that. I could actually tell you many things such as the square root of pi and such, but let's stick to this story shall we. Anyway, when I wake up, I am immediately hit with the bright light from the lights in the nurses office which make my throbbing head throb even more as I close my eyes and try not to puke from the sudden nausea that follows the increased pain in my cranium. I lay my right arm over my eyes to try to ease the discomfort.

I groan in annoyance hearing something, or someone, sit down next to me. I crack open my left eye to squint at the person sitting in the chair next to my nurse bed. I immediately meet the intense sea-green state of the one-and-only Percy Jackson as he gives me a look so grave and serious at the same time, it makes me think he's trying to imitate a movie character. Underneath the emotions shown in his eyes, the worry, relief, questioning, and hurt, there is anger brewing. The darkness as wild as the sea during a storm.

"Um hi?" I mutter weakly, with a nervous grin as I try not to meet his piercing gaze.

"Do you have something you need to tell me Annabeth?" Percy says, crossing his arms.

_Crap! He must have seen the bruises and the scars! How am I going to explain this? I could ask him to keep everything a secret, but if somehow my dad finds out I told someone... crap this is bad! _

"-beth? Annabeth! Snap out of it!" I hear Percy shouting as I am jolted out of my in head freak out.

My head whips up so I can look him in the eye again, but when I look into his eyes, I see all the anger has vanished and is now replaced by just worry and confusion. I feel like even though we have just met, I can trust him; I know he won't tell anyone. The though of what my dad will do if he finds out terrifies me, but I know Percy won't leave me to fend for myself.

"I'll tell you," I whisper quietly.

He leans back in his chair and looks at me, waiting for me to take this step and unknowingly setting himself up for the world of my painful memories and that this is probably the hardest thing I've done in three years.

To make sure no one is listening, I ask him where the nurse went to which he replies that she is in the teachers lounge on her lunch break. After making sue the door is closed and no one is around to listen in, I sit up on the cot with my legs crossed and my back propped up against the wall behind me. I take a deep breath then stare Percy in the eye with a serious look on my face.

"What I am about to tell you is VERY personal, and no matter how much you will want to tell someone after this, I want you to promise on your life that you won't. Do you understand how serious I am about that right now?" I ask in a no-nonsense tone.

He just nods his head, wide eyed in anticipation of what I am about to tell him. He promises and I take another deep breath as I tell home everything. From my mother's death, to when the beatings started, to Luke and the move, all of it he now knows.

During some parts of it I can hear him mutter threats and other things under his breath such as: "I'm gonna kill that bastard" and " I'll make him wish he'd never been born". Even though all of what he's saying involve very violent solutions, they still warm my heart in a strange, twisted way. After I am finished, there is a small period of complete silence before Percy leans forward and pulls me into a big bear hug as tears start to stream down my face. I wrap my arms around his muscled back and bury my head in the crook of his neck. I gasp as he hugs me tighter and my ribs twinge in pain.

"Percy!" I choke as he loosens his hold on me and my right arm comes down to cradle my ribs and stomach.

His eyes fill with pain as he remembers what I told him had happened. Gently, he lowers me back down on the cot and goes and gets some pain medication from one of the nurse's cabinets. He bring two tablets back to me as well as a small paper cup filled with water from the sink.

He helps me sit up as I take the pills, but as I look down, I see I am still wearing my gym clothes. Percy realizes what I'm thinking and tells me that he'll ask the nurse when she comes back if she can go and get my stuff for me and bring it back.

"Don't I need to go back to class?" I say just as a large yawn splits my face; I probably shouldn't have stayed up late last night reading anime fanfiction, but it was just so well written!

"Ha, no," Percy says," you are gonna take a nap and I will wake you up when school is over. Okay?"

"Fine," I mutter as I close my eyes.

I hear him chuckle and hear him say one last thing before I fall asleep that sends a pleasant shove through my spine.

"Sweet dreams. I'll be here when you wake up," he whispers as he grips my hand.

"Hm," I hum as sleep overtakes me.

**A/N:~ Well here you guys go! I made this chapter a little longer than usual to make up for my absence. By the way, I have an Instagram account so if you can find it you should follow me :D. Bye! ^-^**


	10. Secrets Revealed

**A/N:~ Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. High school is being mean and my college class is killing me~ ANYWAY! Hope y'all enjoy! As a side note, I'm sorry if the writing in this chapter is overly formal but I just turned in my first super duper in-depth research paper and the MLA writing style is still stuck in my head. ^-^**

**Percy's POV**

I. Am. Pissed. So unbelievably pissed. At the father, the bullies, and just every human being who has injured the girl lying down on the cot in front of me. I didn't have a great childhood either with my abusive step father, but he's gone and I don't have to deal with him anymore. But Annabeth... she's pretty much... Alone. Stuck. Got no place to go at the moment. It's so frustrating that if I reach out and try to get her some help she will deny it. The moment she finished telling me what was going on, I wanted to go to the police and tell them what is going on but then I realized Annabeth wouldn't trust me anymore if I did. They would take her away from her family and might be put in foster care or something. By some miracle she might be allowed to live with Thalia but with the tensions between my lovely cousin and her step-mother Hera at the moment, I don't think Hera would be too pleased adding another "troublesome teen" to her household.

I reach out and tuck a golden strand of hair behind Annabeth's ear and comb my hand through it as small, little puffs of air exit her lips. She smiles briefly as I massage her head and turns her body towards me while curling up in a small ball. We sit like this for a while until the nurse renters the room.

"I'll sit with her for a few minutes. Go ahead and get yourselves something to eat for lunch and get The work you need from your classes for the rest of the day. I don't want her going back to class, so I'll get the principle to excuse you two from classes the rest of the day," the nurse says, pulling up a chair near the cot and pulling out her phone to play a round of Angry Birds before her lunch break starts.

I guess I had been sitting there for longer than I though as a few minutes after I walk out the nurse door, the lunch bell rings. Immediately, the halls are crowded with a bunch of teens crowding the hallways and pushing each other out of one another's ways to get first pick at the better choices the cafeteria is offering for lunch today. Papers are thrown all over place and I see a few freshmen frantically pushing themselves against the lockers to get out of the stampede known as high school lunch period.

I just push through the thinning crowd of teens and make my way to each of Annabeth's and my classrooms and retrieve the work that we've missed and will be missing through the day. Exiting from my last stop, I see the hallways are empty of most all people excluding Thalia who is running around like a maniac grabbing poor unsuspecting people who are still in the hallway and asking them if they've seen a gold haired girl with creepy eyes.

"Thalia! Annabeth's fine!" I shout at her from across the hall.

"She better be Kelp Head, or I will reap the souls of those who laid a hand on my dear childhood friend!" she yells back, striking a stupid pose that somehow looks a little less stupid than normal with the death glare she is giving the world around her.

We head to the nurses office and right as the nurse hears us come in she lifts her head from the game on her phone.

"She hasn't woken up yet so feel free to stay in here while I'm on my lunch break, but DO NOT TOUCH ANYTHING," she says with a fierce glare, exiting the room.

"God she was uptight!" Thalia whines as she walks over to Annabeth.

She sighs as she looks down at her best friends sleeping body.

"That b**** Drew is gonna pay," she growls out between clenched teeth, her hand curling to fists at her sides.

_Not just Drew, a whole lotta bastards have to be punished for what they've done to her in the past, _I think angrily.

The two of us sit by Annabeth in silence until the bell signaling the end of lunch rings and the nurse renters the room. Thalia gets up and leaves to go to her next class while the nurse supposedly checks to make sure we didn't destroy anything in the short period of time she was gone.

Apparently she finds everything as she left it, so she shrugs and walks back into her office. Now all I have to do is wait for Annabeth to wake up.

**Ten Minutes After School Is Out (A/N:~ Because I didn't have any more ideas of what Percy could contemplate while Annabeth was passed out.)**

I wake up Annabeth after bell rings so I can walk her home. She wordlessly rises out of the cot and gets her stuff together before we are out of school and walking the twenty minute trip back to her house. Its awkward for the first few minutes before I finally break the silence.

"I don't like the idea of you going back to your house... I'm worried for you," I say quietly, although, it sounds painfully loud compared to the awkward silence we were just in.

"I'll be fine," she replies before finishing somewhat bitterly," it's not like I haven't had to deal with all this before.

Something inside me snaps and I stop abruptly, turning to grab her shoulders until she is looking in my eyes which are most-likely showing the vast amount of anger and frustration I am currently feeling.

"Listen to me dammit!" I shout. "I don't care if you're used to all of this or not! I care about you and your families issues aren't an excuse for them to push all their frustrations on you!" Continuing in a quieter tone and pulling her into a hug, I say, "If there are any issues tonight I want you to call me. I made sure you have my number on your phone **(A/N:~ Happened in the time I skipped.)** so please PLEASE call me if anything, no matter how significant you deem it to be, is wrong."

**Annabeth's POV**

I pull back slightly from Percy's embrace, my eyes softening as I look into his which now full of worry and pain. The anger and frustration present in them only moments ago seem to have vanished in the blink of an I. I hesitantly lift my right hand to cup his cheek, wondering how the two of us have gotten so close in such a short period of time. We only met this morning for god's sake.

"Hey, I'm gonna be fine," I say to him.

The statement is most likely a lie, and he knows it, but he doesn't push the issue any further which I'm thankful for. We go back to walking and this time it isn't as awkward as it was before, just more heavy and laced with a tinge of worry and sadness.

When my house (more like prison) is finally in sight, I turn towards Percy. I see that my dad and stepmother's cars are n the driveway and immediately know that if they see Percy with me, I'll really regret letting him walk me home. My father would have an excuse, not like he needs any, to make my life more of a hell than it already is.

"Percy, I think we should stop here. If my dad sees you with me... it probably won't end well for either of us," I say in a bitter tone, my eyes on the sidewalk instead of staring into his which I know have not lost the worry in them; I then peak up at him slightly.

He runs a calloused palm through his messy black hair and then brings his hands to rest in his pockets, a sigh leaving his lips as he does so. He looks up at the sky briefly before bringing his gaze back down to rest on me. I quickly move my gaze back down to stare at my beat up converse. _I need another pair, _I think briefly before realizing how stupid it is to have a thought like that in a situation such as this.

"Annabeth," Percy calls softly, causing me to raise my head and look him in the eye for what seems like the twentieth time today. "Be safe, please," he begs.

I try to smile in answer, but it turns out more like a grimace. He accepts it though as he walks away, heading to an apartment complex about five or ten minutes away from my house. I sigh as I turn away as well and start walking to the building I have to now call my home. My feet feel as heavy as lead as I walk up the steps and open the door. A few steps in and I am immediately greeted by a hard slap to the face which sends me flat on the floor clutching my now bruised cheek.

"Well look who finally decided to arrive home," I hear a voice comment sarcastically, a dark tone underlying it.

My breath freezes in my throat as I bring my head up to look into the furious gaze of my so-called father.

_Well sh*t,_ I think, swallowing thickly. _God why do you hate me so?_

**A/N:~ That's all for this chapter guys! Thanks for reading and remember, reviews are always welcome and appreciated! I'm probably going to be updating more frequently so expect to have the next chapter up later next week! ^-^**


	11. Everything Hurts

**A/N:~ Hey y'all. Sorry I haven't updated in a while but I just found out that my aunt's cancer has spread to the point where it is in her spine and brain instead of just her lungs and I've had to deal with a lot of things revolving around that as she lives on the opposite side of the U.S.. Anyway, this chapter contains a lot of abuse so it may act as a trigger to anyone whose been through stuff like this, so if this will be a problem for you, stop here. **

**Annabeth's POV**

"Time to punish you for being a lazy, worthless a**!" the bane of my existence says a dryly with a sadistic look in his eye.

He grabs me by the wrist and drags me to the living room before throwing me down on the carpet and grabbing a belt off of the couch. I have never seen him so angry before; it reminds me of cartoons when characters are blowing steam out o their ears.

When he has the belt in his hand and I start to sit back down, he whips me across the right side of the face cutting open my cheek and above my eye causing blood to drip down my face. Just in time, I can feel the pain medication wearing of an my ribs starting to scream with all the strain they are going through.

He brings his arm up again and again, hitting me in any open point he can until I'm covered in cuts and bruises but he still has a sadistic smile on his face. He brings his arm up for what seems to be the 100th time as I try the best I can to curl up in the fetal position when the door opens and I hear my stepmother talking with someone who I assume is a friend of hers. My dad looks panicked for a second before tossing the belt in a cabinet and pulling me up off the floor.

"Get out of sight you filthy maggot," he spits at me, shoving me up the stairs and out of sight before leaving me and heading back downstairs to clean up the mess he made.

I limp to my room and lock my door behind me before dragging myself to my bed and laying my body on it as gently as I can. My head hits the pillow and my eyes shut tightly an tears start to leak beneath my eyelids. My tears mix with the blood on my face turning them red as the run to my chin.

I sit here like this for an hour before finally getting up and going to the bathroom to clean myself off. I turn on the shower and wait for the water to warm up enough so I can get in without getting hypothermia. I strip off my bloody and ripped clothing before stepping under the warm stream of water and my eyes close peacefully as I feel the water wash off all the blood and stuff covering my body.

**Time skip to after getting dressed again to when she's sitting on her bed.**

I sit back against the headboard I my bed. Staring at my phone between my legs, debating whether to call Percy or not. After ten minutes of arguing with myself, I pick up the phone and set it on my nightstand.

_He doesn't need to know. It's not like wee ever going to talk again. He'll just know when he sees the ton of makeup I'm going to have to put on tomorrow_.

I sneak down the stairs to grab my backpack, grab a piece of bread and a water bottle from the kitchen and then head back up the stairs to do my homework while contemplating the meaning of life.

_What a sh*tty situation you've gotten yourself into huh Annabeth?_

**A/N:~ Hey guys I need a little bit of help. I'm starting a YouTube channel where I will be doing covers of songs and I'm going to be posting the first video next week but I can't think of a good username. If you can think of one, please comment and help me out.**


	12. Dreams vs Reality: Part 1

**A/N:~ I'm going to spare you guys the lengthy author's note. Enjoy!**  
^-^

**Percy's POV**

As I lay on my bed staring up at the ceiling, I go over the events that happened today in my brain. One: I can't believe I have a huge "crush" on someone I just met (aka: Annabeth) and two, I highly doubt Annabeth got those bruises and stuff just by being clumsy. She doesn't seem like the klutzy type of girl that is always tripping over her feet and whacking into walls, and, going back to topic of interest #1, I just have that FEELING that we have met somewhere before this. Maybe we were friends in a past life where we were demigods or something I don't know.

Anyway, I bring one of my hands from behind my head and reach into my pocket, pulling my phone out and binging it up in front of my face. As I stare at my reflection in the black glass of the iPhone's screen, I mentally hit myself, wishing I had gotten Annabeth's phone number as well so I could call her. This uneasiness I feel is growing larger.

I'm snapped out of my worry when my mom yells at me from the kitchen of our apartment.

"Percy! Dinner's ready!" she calls.

I force myself to sit up, swinging my legs off over the edge of my bed and getting up to go down the hallway.

_Please let it be taco night with those awesome blue tortillas, _I pray silently as I head towards the kitchen, my previous thoughts being forgotten as the smell of nacho cheese and meat meet **(A/N:~ I don't know why but I giggled when I wrote this**  
**(￣▽￣****). Help please -_-# ...)** my nose and my mouth starts to water.

I'm practically running as I bust into the dining room that's joined with the kitchen and make my way to where my mom is stood over the stove putting two tacos onto a plate for herself. I look at the counter for my food and see six beautiful blue tortilla taco shells with all of the cheesy meaty goodness oozing out of them** (A/N:~ Oh god I'm making myself hungry right now but it's like 12:00am right now and my parents would kill me if I tried to eat anything...)**. My mom looks up from where she is "working" and opens her mouth, probably to ask how my day went, before shutting it as she sees me staring at my one true love. I do give her a quick hug before I grab my plate to head to the table.

"Come my love," I coo as I reach down to pick up my first taco, the sound of the door being unlocked just background noise as I revel in the pure euphoria I am experiencing as I inhale two tacos within a period of about 30 seconds.

"Hey honey, how was your day?" my mom asks Paul as he gives her a quick kiss on the cheek before they both grab their plates and head towards the table.

I'm now on my fourth taco and there better be more cause I'll probably be eating about 10 today before I'm full.

"Pretty good. We got a new student today and Percy and her seem to be getting along just fine. Thalia and her also seem to have been friends before she came to the school," he answers her before starting to attack his own food, I'm happy that my step-dad and I share the love of tacos.

My head shops up as I hear my name before registering what Paul had just said.

"Oh yeah!" I reply eagerly, my eyes lighting up (at least that's what I would be told later by my mother),"Annabeth's really nice and smart, but she got hurt today in P.E. so she was out for the count in the nurses office today."

I stop myself from talking about her other bruises and cuts that were obviously not from the incident earlier today and raised red flags when I confronted Annabeth about them on our way home, instead pausing my rambling when I see a thoughtful look on my moms face.

I put down my last taco in favor of asking her what she's thinking about.

"Oh it's nothing, it just sound like the name of someone you played with when you were little," she laughs lightly, but I feel like she is uneasy or something, like Annabeth isn't a topic we should be talking about. Like she is some shade that will bring back bad memories.

Just then, an image of what looks to be a smiling seven-year-old version of Annabeth flashes into my mind for some reason and I sit back in my chair with a thud, suddenly no longer hungry as I lift my hand to my head as more images flash into my brain. Why they haven't been triggered before now, I have no idea. Maybe because I never gave it a thought when to two of us were talking together that the reason why we clicked so easily was because we had met somewhere way before today.

"Percy," my mom says as she and Paul look at me with worried looks on their faces, their own dinners forgotten.

I force a smile on my face and say an 'I'm fine' before picking up my plate and get up, pushing my chair in, and waking to the sink to put my plate down. Well there goes the other four tacos I was thinking about consuming.

"I'm not that hungry, and we had a long day today so I think I'm gonna conk out early tonight. Thanks for dinner mom," I calm out over my shoulder as I head back down the hall to my bedroom, missing the silent conversation that seemed to go between Paul and my mom.

I take a quick shower and brush my teeth before changing into some sweatpants and laying on my bed shirtless like usual (**A/N:~ Ahhh... Percy's abs...)**.

As my head hits my pillow, the lights go out in my normally hyperactive brain (screw you ADHD) **(A/N:~ Author fun fact #1: I also have ADHD but the severity of it is kinda almost really bad but not quite there.)** and I fall into a hurricane of repressed memories about a certain 16-year-old blonde who I have begun to already like more than a friend.

Everything seems to make sense.

**A/N:~ yay this is finally up. I've had half this chapter typed up but life has been crap so ya. Next chapter should be up next week but finals are sneaking up on me like the devil so I'm not sure... ^-^**


	13. Dreams vs Reality: Part 2

**A/N:~ I feel like I should just stop saying "oh the next chapter will be out soon" or " don't worry about it I'm almost done with the next chapter" because, let's face it, I'm super lazy but busy at the same time. Anyway, I'll keep this note short so you can go on to the chapter but if you haven't read this far and just skipped to the story: screw you. ( haha jk i love you all) ... ( but seriously some of these authors notes are important). I'm thinking about writing a few chapters at a time then releasing them when I feel I need to update so ya... Read on y'all! ^-^**

**Annabeth POV**

_I'm scared._

_That's the first emotion I feel as I see the absolute fury on my father's face. __**Fear**__. I have never seen him so angry. Not when mom died, not when I talked back the first time after her death, not when he had previously beaten me, not even when he found out I had stupidly decided to replace Helen's "organic shampoo" with blue hair dye because I thought it would be 'fun'._

_He reaches down to pull me back to my feet by my hair when, out of nowhere, everything around me just *poofs* away as if it was made of smoke and I'm face to face with what looks to be a seven year old Percy with a big grin on his face._

**_Oh now I get it, this is just a dream_**_._

_Only it's not a dream, more like its a movie playing out before me as memory by memory flits before my eyes and I remember all the things I had forgotten, that I was __**supposed to forget**__. All of it just keeps flooding my brain with sights, smells, emotions, feelings (non-emotional) and just everything I feel like I shouldn't have lost the memory of. Happier times where Percy and I would go to the park with our parents and play in the sandbox and on the playstructure for hours upon hours, often long past the times our mothers called us back. _

_But then I remember the not-so-nice stuff, my mother dying, my father beginning to beat me, Percy getting in a really bad car accident and getting amnesia and then me not being able to reintroduce myself again to him as his best friend, Percy moving off to New York to begin his new Annabeth-free life... All of these things, and then the last memory hits me like a bullet to the heart._

_I walk down the stairs of our house to get some water, trying to be as silent as a mouse lest I wake up my father and then glimpse a picture of Percy and I as someone whacks me on the back of the head and I'm out like a light. _

**Then all memories of Percy cease to exist until now. **

I vaguely remember what happened when I woke up after getting knocked out that time.My father told me I had tripped down the stairs and that it served me right as I was a worthless being that he had to pay his "hard earned money to take care of" while I knew what actually happened. My dad had been the one to hit me, but I couldn't remember what I was doing before that even though I felt I was missing something important.

My eyes fly open as tears leak out of the corners of my eyes onto my mattress below me, and I choke back a sob, lifting my left hand to wipe the tears away. Slowly sitting up and quietly making it to and opening the door to my room, I peer down the hallway making sure there is no one still up. I don't see any of my 'family members' as I make my way to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth (basic necessities + my phone so my dad can track where I am via GPS + a crappy laptop for school, "you better keep your grades up or else", are what I have, nothing really extra unless it came from money I worked for and the hid from my 'parents').

I pass the clock in the hallway and see that it is around 1:00 in the morning.

_No wonder no one is awake._

As I quietly close the bathroom door behind me and flick on the light, I stare blankly at my reflection in the mirror.

**I look awful.**

My head has a little bit of blood crusting on the left side on my face even after I covered up the cuts and washed them off earlier. My arms are covered in black and blue with little red lines sometimes crisscrossing over them where he had hit me and the leather from his belt cut my skin.

_Its gonna take a lot of make up to cover these tomorrow. I could just wear a long sleeved shirt but it might be hot.._

I sigh and brush my bangs out of my face as I start to clean my face off and then move on to brushing my teeth. As the _whirring_ of the battery starts to calm my racing thoughts, I go over my... my 'dream

It would make sense why I feel I have *ahem*** feelings **for Percy, and I guess he could have those same memories pushing at the part of his mind that were hidden after his accident. That could be why he is also acting so familiarly with me as well.

One thing doesn't make sense though. Why did my father not want us to be friends, even when we were little? Was he scared I might rat him out to a eight year old who couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his own life?

_I now feel kind of insulted that he would think i would be so stupid as to tell someone else what was going on behind those and these closed doors and windows._

I spit the toothpaste out into the sink and rinse my mouth out and face off as I reach my hand out to grasp something to dry my face off. After toweling my face off and taking one last glimpse of myself in the bathroom mirror, I turn off the light, open the door and tiptoe back to my room to get some greatly needed rest,

I close my bedroom door, locking it behind me just in case, God forbid, my brothers wake up before me. As I crawl into my bed and pull the blanket up to my chin, I pray that tomorrow will be better.

_Just take one day at a time Annabeth._

**A/N:~Hey y'all! How have you guys been? I'm going to be taking the next week or so to spend my time editing the previous chapters of this story as I usually write them around midnight and they turn out as crappy and confusing as my sleep deprived brain. I will also be adding some stuff to some chapters where I think I wrote too little or where I want to expand on what happened during time skips. **

**Since my school got out for summer vacation last week, I'm thinking about making it so I can update every week, but I don't know which day to do so. JUST NOT MONDAY UURRRRGHHHHH! So if you guys have any suggestions about when I should update, pm me or comment and I'll try to get everything sorted out. **

**Thanks for your support guys and I hope y'all have a great day! ^-^**


	14. Confrontation

**A/N:~ Percy isn't as dense and unintelligent in this story as Rick Riordan and other people set him to be because for some reason I can't write fanfictions or POVs in general about stupid/dense people. Jesus help me. Enjoy ^-^.**

**Percy's POV**

"For the first time in a long time, I wake up before my alarm clock and also before my mom makes her regular rounds to see that I've woken up and started to get ready for school. However, I take the extra minutes I have before the alarm goes off to think about what happened yesterday and how I am going to approach the topic of Annabeth's and my previous friendship when I talk to the girl in question herself. It's great that she and I were so close before all of this but at the same time, it's confusing that she didn't act like she recognized me. Also, the fact that Thalia knew both Annabeth and I at the same time yet did not try to tell either of us about our shared pasts.

How the heck is all of this going to work out? I can't remember the reason I forgot all of this and I don't even know if Annabeth forgot or just doesn't care. And then there's Thalia who might care less about all of this than I would think and could maybe not want to be involved with this at all...

"ARGGGHHHH THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING, CONFUSING, AND GREAT ALL AT THE SAME TIME!" I scream in my room as quiet as one can when they are screaming their head off in the midst of an internal freakout/existential crisis/what-the-heck-should-I-do-I-don't-want-to-make-things-worse-but-I-think-I-know-something-that-could-help-this-situation-but-I-don't-know-if-I-should-try-it-or-not-Jesus-please-take-the-wheel kind of freakout.

While an overwhelming feeling of utter uselessness causes my brain to internally combust, I miss the sound of my alarm clock as I roll around in a ball on my bed clutching my head to try to make it stop spinning. I only snap out of it when I hear my door open and see my mom stick her head from around my door and into my room from the hallway with a concerned expression on her face as she sees me sprawled out on my bed with a look on my face that probably looks to be a cross between constipation and utter joy.

"Sweetie are you okay? I heard screaming coming from your room," she says pushing open my door to the point where I can see she is wearing gray sweats and a red Mickey Mouse printed t-shirt with matching slippers.

Being the complete idiot I am, I say what has to be one of the most confusing things I have ever said, "Yeah. Don't worry about it mom. It's not like I was fighting an army of Titans, gorgons, demigods and Greek demigods with a really angry Minotaur that liked to throw limos and also wanted to kill me."

Enter a battle between the smart and not-so-smart parts of my brain.

_WTH? PERCY WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOUR BRAIN!_

_I TOLD YOU SELF! ITS BECAUSE I AM NOT MENTALLY STABLE!_

_Well that actually makes a lot of sense._

_Doesn't it?_

My mom just gives me another weird look before shrugging her shoulders indifferently and walking out of my room telling me over her shoulder to hurry up and get ready for school and to turn my dang alarm clock off AND that breakfast would be ready in ten minutes.

Gods above please help it be blue waffles and bacon... Maybe I'll bring one of them, the waffles not the bacon and definitely without syrup on it, just in case she forgot to eat breakfast.

Half an hour later, I'm dressed and out the door with my backpack in one hand and a Ziplock bag containing one blue waffle in the other. I munch on a piece of bacon as a swing my backpack onto my back, switching the waffle to my other hand as I stick the first through the strap. As I approach the bus stop, I see Annabeth is just now arriving there as well but it looks like she's walking with a limp in her step and is cradling one of her arms to her chest. We make eye contact and she sends me a faint smile as we sit down next to each other on the bench and I hand the waffle over to her.

She looks at me with one of her eyebrows raised, glancing between the alien colored piece of heaven and my face.

" Is this safe to eat?" she asks me with a slight smile as she opens up the bag and removes the still warm object of interest.

"I hope so! I've been eating waffles like this since I was three," I reply.

" No wonder you're so intellectually challenged," she teases me as she takes a bite of my preferred breakfast food **A/N:~ Help me please what else can I call a waffle :| )**

"Heeeyyyy!" I whine, but I grin when her head snaps back towards the waffle, she looks at me incredulously and then in 27.3 seconds, the waffle is no where to be seen.

"What was that?" she asks as she stares at me wide-eyed.

" That, my lovely Annabeth," I say with my nose stuck up in the air," was what the French like to call a blue waffle."

"You're an idiot," she tells me with a straight face.

"You wound me my fair lady," I moan as I fake toppling over, holding my chest.

She looks down the road both ways before turning back to me and looking me up and down," Yep. Still an idiot."

For some reason the conversation just stops there and the silence following is filled with awkward glances and restless fidgeting until I remember what I was thinking of this morning and decide to break the tension with the risk of creating more after I'm done speaking.

" I had a dream last night," I say staring straight ahead," you were in it and basically, we knew each other before yesterday. When we were toddlers to be exact."

I feel Annabeth stiffen beside me then she exhales and her words nearly make me fall off the bench, which would be 2x as embarrassing as the bus is approaching the stop and toppling over would make me look like even more of an idiot than people already see me as.

"I had a similar dream," she whispers," but now I think that 'dream' is more like reality and the reasons why we can't remember aren't exactly clear to me and my dad sure as hell won't tell me if I ask him."

"Well shit," I say as the bus doors open and we walk over to the metal hunk filled with screaming teenagers.

" 'Well shit' indeed Percy. 'Well shit' indeed," Annabeth says quietly, sighing as we make our way onto an empty row on the bus and sit down.

She sits by the window to admire the view and I sit by the isle so I can admire the beauty sitting right next to me.


	15. Band-Aids and Laywers

**A/N:~ I'm planning for there to only be 4 more chapters to this story as I want to be able to focus more on some of my other fanfics but I think I might write another AU about College life Percabeth. Tell me what you think in the comments below. Enjoy.^-^**

* * *

**One Month Later...**

**Annabeth's POV**

As I am sitting down on his bed, Percy places another hand sized band-aid over a large cut on the back of my calf, not making eye contact with me as he gets up to go out the first aid kit away- mumbling about how if Luke grabs my butt one more time at school, he'll smash his face in- and I keep my mouth shut as I hear his footsteps heading down the hallway. I sigh as I flop back onto his mattress, hissing as my previously forgotten bruised back makes a reappearance. I close my eyes and lay there for a minute until I hear Percy enter his room and lock his door behind him.

My left eye shoots open and I glare at him as he makes his way towards me with a serious expression on his face," What the hell are you doing?"

Without a word, Percy pins me down on his bed with my arms above my head and stares me straight in the eyes. In response, my body tenses up and my other eye opens as I stare him right back in the face. As he feels me tense up, his hold immediately loosens slightly, but he still puts enough pressure on my wrists that I can't break the hold without serious effort on my part.

"I want this to stop," he says, emotions swimming in his sea-green eyes." Even though you told me not to, I've told the police about what is happening," he holds up a finger from his free hand to stop my angry accusations as I start squirming to get free, my eyes burning in anger," but they said that the person who is being abused has to be the one who says they are being abused or they have no case to try."

"I trusted you," I whisper brokenly as tears come to my eyes. "He could find out and then-oh my God I don't even want to think about it!"

I start to curl up in a ball the moment Percy releases my hands, and then I just cry as he gets on his bed as well and lays next to me, pulling me into his chest so I can cry into his shirt. He strokes my hair, quietly whispering comforting words into my ear, and draws circles on my left arm with the fingers of his right hand.

* * *

After ten minutes, my sobs quiet down to small hiccups, but Percy continues what he was doing until I've completely settled down. I know I shouldn't have doubted him, and I believe if our roles were reversed, I would do the same thing he did. If it was a month ago, when we hadn't yet rekindled our previous best friendship, I would have flipped out a lot more and probably gone back to my house in tears, just to get another beating and another round of verbal abuse.

"Please Wise-Girl, let me help you," Percy says quietly, breaking the silence and pulling me tighter to his chest in a hug, his use of my nickname from when we were toddlers making a faint smile appear on my face.

I push up a little bit to look down at his face below me.

"Okay," I whisper back.

We both get up and exit Percy's bedroom, heading to his mom's office to talk. As I step through the doorway, Sally immediately stops what she is doing and swivels her chair around to face the two of us, removing her glasses.

She looks at Percy first, as if she is asking for conformation for something only the two of them know, but when Percy looks to me then back at his mom and then **nods**, I know he told a lot more people about my situation then he lead me to believe. I glare at him and am about to chew the hell out of him about breaking his promise MULTIPLE times, but Sally holds up a hand to the both of us and the words die in my throat.

"I am going to call my friend Elaine McGee over, she is one of the best lawyers I know, specializing in abuse cases, but first we need to find a way to move your things over here for the next few days so your father has no leverage against you to come home," she says, looking at me.

I hesitate for a moment," I think that if I told him I was given an assignment for school that I needed to work on with a partner, he would be willing to let me spend one night here, a Friday night , just because he won't have an excuse that the drop in my grade is because of me not anything he has done. We could sneak over around 7:00 that night because that's when Matthew and Bobby go play basketball with their buddies in the park and also when my dad and that hoe go out on their weekly "date night"."

"If we have to, I can call the Stolls over to come help us which with basically ensure success of our mission. We don't have to give them the entire story, just a few details that you are comfortable sharing so they understand how important this is to you and your life in general," Percy says, adding the last part of the second sentence so I won't flip out on him again.

They both look at me and I nod slightly and Sally reaches for her phone, dialing the number of the supposed lawyer. Percy reaches down to grab my hand in his as we walk out of the room, leaving the door open behind us and head to the kitchen to eat something that will calm down my stomach.

As we walk away, I hear Sally talking into her phone, " Hey Elaine? It's me, Sally. Listen, I know you might have something going on at the moment but I need you to take the case of my son's friend, name: Annabeth Chase. The story is-"

I take a deep breath, knowing the chaos that is about to begin, but at the same time I simile slightly.

* * *

**It's going to be all over soon.**


	16. Time

**AN:~ I'M BACK Y'ALL! Okay so I have no idea about the technicalities of the law system here in America so I'm just gonna bs my way through this and hope for the best. (You guys love me right? You won't kill me? GOOD. I'm too lazy to fight back ha ha ha...). I'm also too lazy to look it all up on the Internet as my main goal is to get this piece of crap written so you rabid fangirls (-boys, who cares) will be happy and calm yourselves XD. Ahhhh. Hope you enjoy! ^-^**

**Percy POV**  
The courtroom is buzzing with noise as my mom and I sit in the audience directly behind the desk where the witness and their lawyer are supposed to sit. I hold Annabeth's hand over the divider and reassure her that everything will go alright as my mom and the lawyer Elaine talk in hushed voices, trying to make sure no one hears what they're saying- probably just sensitive details about Annabeth's case.

When the judge enters the room, the noise quiets to a dead silence as those standing who are not on the side of the barrier closest to the podium head to their seats and sit down. The silence is only broken by the scrape of the judges chair against the wood floor as she gets situated behind her stand.

After introductions and apparent usual proceedings, it's Annabeth's time to speak. My throat begins to close up in worry before they even call her name.

"The said victim, Annabeth Rose Chase is called to witness. Please step forward and enter the stand."

As Annabeth sits down in the wooden box, my mind begins to drift off, tuning out the questions now being fired at Annabeth by the Chase's lawyer after her testimony had finished.

**A** **Month** **Ago...**

_After my mom called her friend , it was decided that Annabeth was going to spend the night at our house in the guest bedroom. The next day, we went to the police department and met up with Elaine to have photos and X-rays taken of Annabeth's various injuries inflicted on her over the years and also so the authorities could get her statement about what's been going on these past few years._

_To make Annabeth feel more comfortable, they allowed my mom to go into the room when they were going to take pictures. I, of course, went to get a drink from the vending machine room and then spent the rest of the time waiting outside of the room for the examination to be finished. When Annabeth exited the room with my mom and Elaine trailing behind her, she gave me a rueful smile, leaning onto my chest as I closed my arms around her in a fierce hug and placed my chin on top of her head._

_"How did it go?" I asked quietly._

_"Let's just say there is no going back now," she murmured in return, wrapping her arms around me to return the hug._

_When the officers said that we were fit to go and the court date had been decided, we exited the building. Apparently in the time this entire situation had played out, the police had gone to Annabeth's house and arrested both of her parents, placing her stepbrothers in the care of an aunt or someone else, as we passed by the two deplorables (__**A/N:~HAHAHAHA**__**AMERICAN**__**POLITICAL**__**JOKE**__) on our way out of the police station doors. Fredrick snarled at Anabeth and tried to lunge at her with his hands handcuffed behind his back, but the officer taking care of him quickly reacted and pulled him back before he could do anything_

_All Annabeth got from Helen, or was it Susan -oh well it doesn't matter anyway- was a mutter of 'Stupid bitch' as I pulled Annabeth close to my side and hurried away to unlock my moms car and get inside._

_-_  
I'm broken out of the flashback when the judge calls for a break in the trial and those inside the courtroom go use the restroom or begin talking to each other in hushed voices, some glancing from wall to wall at the two sets of people across the divider from them. My mom however, immediately breaks into a quiet conversation with Elaine, speaking a mile a minute in addition to their low volume makes it so I cannot make out at all what the heck they are up to. **(A/N**: **Legitimately** **I'm** **super** **tired** **right** **now** **so** **from** **here** **down** **is** **gonna** **be** **rushed** **and** **might** **not** **make** **any** **sense.)**

I have a feeling that this trial itself it, thank the gods above, only going to last one day meaning that Annabeth's future is to be decided in the next few hours. If her parents are found guilty, Annabeth has decided that she will request an emancipation form to be signed so she will not have to go into foster care or deal with any of those issues.

I glance over to where her stepbrothers are sitting and they look like they are currently having a heated debate on something involving the trial as words like 'testify', 'witnesses' and 'we' float over to where I'm sitting, Annabeth's hand held tight in my own. I look back to the blonde in front of me and in a moment of bravery, lean forward and place my lips on her cheek in a light kiss. She stiffens underneath my touch, but she does not pull away and I linger a second or two before leaning back again.

"You can do this," I whisper, looking straight into her eyes which are wide from the shock of what I just did.

Sure we had been in some more intimate positions before, but neither of us had made a move on the other, even with just a kiss on the cheek in such a situation as this. We've never told each other we -

The judge re-enters the room just as I see the twins walk away from an official they had been talking to. I see that official walk through the mini door in the barrier and up to the judges podium and whisper something into her ear. She leans away from him and looks him in the eyes, nodding after a moment. He then walks over to Elaine and whispers, what I belive to be the same thing he told the judge, into her ear. The nod of affirmation she dives him seems a bit hestitant but the look in her eyes that I catch as she leans over to speak quickly with Annabeth appears almost excited. Annabeth stiffens in response to what she says and at this moment in time I'm _dying _ to find out what exactly is going on.

Elaine gives a nod of confirmation towards the judge and the judge officially calls the trial back into session.

She- Elaine, that is- stands up in response and the words she says make me almost fall off of the pew I'm sitting on.

"The prosecution would like to call Bobby and Matthew Chase to the witness stand on behalf of Annabeth Chase."


	17. Don't Pass GoThe Verdict

**A/N/:~So I am completely exhausted and don't feel like writing a bunch of dialogue so there is mostly just going to explanations of what is being said and Annabeth's thoughts. So if you realize that there isn't a lot of dialogue you know why. By the way, I want to see how many of you actually read my Author's Notes so comment if you have read this or not. Let us begin!^-^**

**Annabeth POV**

_Well this is probably going to end badly. _I think as Bobby walks up the the witness stand and gets situated.

I had never really anticipated that they might feel at all guilty about what they did to me themselves much less be willing to stand up against my parents in support for me in a situation such as this. Admittedly, they might just be screwing around and will tip the verdict in favor of Fredrick and Helen. Ahhhhh why does my life have to be so complicated?

The defendants stare at my step-brother as he starts to go into great detail describing what they did to me on a daily basis and even my eyes widen as he admits to taking part in some of it. Elaine's lips are trying to twitch up in a smile as she realizes we might have a serious advantage over to opposing side and she starts to sit a little straighter; meanwhile, the other lawyer looks **pissed**. He gets a smirk on his face and glances in my direction.

When the judge asks if there are any questions for Bobby from the defendants, he immediately stands up and walks to stand in front of the witness box and starts pacing back and forth. I can see Bobby's eyes follow his movements, slightly nervous, before he looks over to me for conformation and I nod in return.

A week ago, I learned that the relationship between Fredrick and Helen and my brothers was not as picture perfect as it had seemed and a lot of things they did to me, though inexcusable, were because they were trying to pass off their pain to someone, or something, else. If they will confess to what happened, though, or try to maintain a tiny shred more of their dignity, that is what we will have to see.

Bobby starts talking about when he first noticed the abuse happening towards me, back when we still lived in San Francisco. He then starts getting into the times as it was escalating and even mentions what had nearly happened to me at school, though how he knows that I have no idea. He talks about how my dad had started taking out his anger on both of my brothers when the pain of losing my mom could not be enacted out on only one person without them possibly dying as a result. He confessed to being a creep towards me when he felt the need to dump his pain on another poor individual to make himself feel better, but somewhat feeling guilty about it when he realized I couldn't fight back sometimes.

Apparently, after I woke up one time post a particularly hard beating, my injuries were all cleaned and wrapped up and I was lying in my bed because my brothers had both snuck out of their rooms and went downstairs to get me, bring me up to my room, and clean me up. I guess these little things were their way of saying sorry and trying to make up for the horrible things they did. They didn't but kudos to them for trying.

**Annabeth's POV**

After my brothers both leave the stand and Percy and his mom and even Thalia have both given their statements as well. It is my parents turn to defend themselves. Witness after witness is called to the stand for them each one obviously being there only because they are being paid by the devils or they have some ulterior motive. Lies spew from their mouths like vomit (**A/N:~ Bad imagery sorry not sorry D:)** as the same words keep repeating over and over again about what "wonderful people Frederick and his wife are" and "they could not possibly have done these things to that child much less all of the children living under their roof".

_Shut the hell up you trolls I hate you and you've just sealed a deal with Satan. Have fun on floor -666._

I can hear Percy muttering words like "idiot", "asshole", and "liar" each time someone steps up to the stand to be put under thumb by Elaine.

_And this is why I love you._

As the last witness takes their leave from behind the podium, the judge calls for a break in the trial so that the jury can make their decision on the case. I glance to my right and see my father staring straight at me with a glare that feels like it's burning. I flinch away from his stare and see him smirk out of the corner of my eye before he turns back and starts whispering to Helen and their lawyer.

After I push my chair right next to the divider separating the trial from the audience, I feel Percy place his arm around my shoulder, so I close my eyes and lean into his touch. He always makes me feel safe and protected. He whispers in my ear how he's sure we've done it. How he's sure that we've won the case, but there is still a small voice in my mind telling me that this isn't going to end well, how no one believes me, and how I will have to keep dealing with this torture until after I turn 18.

_I'm tired. So damn tired. My brain hurts, my chest hurts, my eyes burn cause I have no more tears to cry and I'm completely and utterly emotionally exhausted._

By now the jury has left the courtroom and gone to a conference room to discuss my fate. I hate that the decision of whether I am going to live or get beaten death is being decided by those who might be easily paid off by Frederick and Helen. Why can't the justice system be something that is always just instead of results being due to a bunch of "technically it wasn't illegal" and "technically it follows such and such law" or whatever.

I just want to go back to the Jackson's house and take a nap on the couch with Percy after watching _Finding Nemo_ or _The Little Mermaid _and eating his mom's blue chocolate chip cookies. I want out of this courtroom. I want out of the claustrophobia I'm feeling as the walls around me seem to trap me in this endless circle of helplessness. I want warmth, calmness, space. The feeling of being loved and being held tight in Percy's arms.

I feel the arm around my shoulder tighten and my eyes shoot open at the sound of scuffling shoes as the jury and others make their ways back into the courtroom. Percy releases me after a kiss on the top of my head, making me blush slightly before I move my chair back to its original spot. Papers are shuffled as the judge sits back behind her podium, waiting for everything to get completely silent and everyone settled down into their respective seats.

The jury walks back into the courtroom and I feel a bead of sweat drip down the side of my face from my temple as I swallow in nervousness. One by one they take their seats, waiting to pass their final judgement either acknowledging my parents' innocence or setting the caged bird free.

As silence finally makes its way over the room with only the occasional cough or squeak of a sneaker on the wooden floor, the judge calls up the main juror to present the final opinion of the jury on the case (**A/N:~ I have no clue if any of this is right I'm just trying to remember what every American crime show does. Fail :,)) **After clearing his throat, the juror stands up before turning his attention to the audience and taking a deep breath.

"In reference to the charges brought by victim Annabeth Chase against her legal parents Frederick and Helen Chase on grounds of physical and verbal abuse we find both parents-"

_This is it._ I think, closing my eyes and crossing my fingers.

"- guilty. In reference to the actions committed by Matthew and Bobby Chase, if called into question by Miss Chase, the court will be willing to begin a trial to come to a proper sentence or conclusion," the man finishes.

"Thank you sir, you may take your seat," the judge replies

In a small part of my brain, I try to figure out what to do with the Bobby/Matthew situation while the rest of me has began to completely lose tension as I melt into my seat.

The judge continues on in informing the court of the sentences my "parents" would face. My father would receive a 20 year prison sentence and Helen would receive a ten year sentence with three years probation. Their parental rights would not only be terminated in regards to me but also to Bobby and Matthew. If I wanted, I could request to be emancipated which I did in a heartbeat. Fun fun fun.

In a daze, I deny the judges question of whether I would like to accuse Bobby and Matthew of their actions further or whether a two to three year probation sentence would suffice **(A/N~I'm making up all of this right now)** Because I can kinda sorta understand their motives and feel bad for them, I decide to just go with the punishment so they can go on with their lives after they learn some respect and human decency.

Everything else fades away as I close my eyes and lean back. Finalities are discussed between judge and lawyers with some contribution on part of jury take up the background scene as I feel Percy pull my chair towards him and put his arm around my shoulders.

Smiling my first real smile, I whisper to myself:

_I'm free._

**A/N:~ wow much cool it's almost 2am and I'm sleep deprived good night**


End file.
